Good smile Company Jobs

need life drawing classes :P joke - some sculpting classes, anatomy (life drawing with live girls), lots and lots of drawing and making 3D figures. i was kick out of a 3D sculpture class and told to do 2D - now i'm making 3D wood dolls WTF eh?

=O Im interested too, but just because i want to learn as many things as possible XD

Pretty sure accounting doesnt have anything to do with the actual figure making XD.

I think first you should try with cheap bad clay for making your figure. That way when you feel unsatisfied you can redo it again and again until you feel satisfied with your work ( come along with your skill increase greatly too)

don't recall, but I do remember way back when GSC was hiring... Don't recall the specific reqs they wanted... Thought it said you needed some knowledge on PVC making.... Not sure... read it on DC some where...

It helps if you know how to draw pictures. Also, understanding 3D modeling is also important. Since each person has a different job based on specialized features, you probably don't need to know everything, but it helps if you have a background in everything.
SO!
1. Learn how to draw, both traditional and digital.
2. Learn how to do 3D modeling, as that's how the figure comes to life.
3. Hands on sculpting. Even practicing with clay is a good thing. Also, learn how to paint your sculptures as well.
4. PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride (I'm a Chemical Engineering major, so don't ask me why I know this...) is an organic molecule formed by Carbon and Chlorine ions. In otherwords, it's a soft synthetic plastic used in creating water pipes and vinyl bath curtains. Because it is an organic molecule, it does let out a toxic gas (you can smell the figures when you open the box, that's actually toxic gas. Don't worry, it's not enough to kill you though.). Since PVC is a soft plastic, it is ideal for creating figures with due to its low melting point, and bendable properties. PVC is used on the figures itself. Sometimes the legs are made with other material to prevent them from bending.
5. ABS - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
I don't know quite as much about this plastic as PVC. However, it is also an organic molecule (all plastics are organic, since they are made up of carbon bonds.) These guys are shinier plastics, and aren't as bendable. Used mainly for those plastic bases that come with your figures. Sometimes, they use some of this material with PVC to create the legs for some of your bishoujo figures, to prevent them from bending over.

The guys at the Good Smile offices are the "thinkers" and thus create new ideas for which figures to make. They make the initial prototype, and the skematics for the design, and production. The actual production of the figures, some are produced in Japan sure, but the mass production is likely in China, since they have the resources to do so, and they also don't care much about the pollution emitted from keeping a factory open. Hell, even our electronic products, Wiis, Xbox 360s, PS3s are mass produced there. If not in China, in Mexico.